taken 12 years ago, near to Woofferton, Shropshire, Great Britain

Vacant industrial plot, Woofferton.

This was once a railway junction with a single track coming in from the Midlands to join the, still surviving, main line between Hereford and Shrewsbury. Post Beeching (actually the line was closed just before the mad axeman) it was a sawmill, which has obviously closed in the last few years.

This photo is linked from:

Discussion on SO5168

SO5168 : Communication CentreNow privatised, this was a BBC short wave transmitter. It switched from broadcasting Voice of America to the World Service during the 199os. It caused great problems locally due to breakthrough and interference. UHF television was a big problem and many locals were early adopters of satellite TV. We soon got used to Cold War propaganda breaking out of electrical equipment designed for other purposes. Forget buying a hi-fi. There were also dark mutterings of health problems including a leukemia cluster. No evidence that this installation was responsible or even that such a cluster existed. Two of my relatives died of mysterious and rare blood cancers though.

Woofferton was once a candidate for the building of a new town - due to the rail link with the West Midlands (now closed) and the still running line between NW England and South Wales. It never happened, but there could easily have been a small city here.